The present invention relates to a system for detecting wood-destroying insects in wood and, in particular, to a system that senses the acoustic emissions generated by wood-destroying insects to detect and indicate their presence.
When any of several wood-destroying insects, such as termites, carpenter ants or powder-post beatles, enter a structure constructed partly or wholly of wood, they can cause considerable damage. Preventative measures such as impregnating structural wood with a poison and the application of pesticides to the foundation of a structure have been questioned, and some have even been discontinued, due to environmental concerns. For this reason, the detection and elimination of wood-destroying insects has been a focus of attention in an effort to reduce the damage caused by the insects. The early detection of infestations has become increasingly important as many environmentally safe eradication methods depend upon early detection of an infestation.
The most common method of detecting infestations of wood-destroying insects is visual inspection by a trained professional. Human inspectors must be highly trained and a visual inspection usually reveals an infestation only in its latter stages. In addition, periodic inspections are needed and each inspection is limited to the areas that the inspector can reach or see.
Visual inspection may be supplemented through the use of trained dogs, which detect insects through a combination of smell and sound, sensitive microphones to listen for insect activity, and special purpose gas chromatographs to detect gases given off by insects. However, each of these methods has the drawback of a high cost and an inability to reliably detect a wood-destroying insect infestation.